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I was given 20 pounds of garlic by a customer who grows the stuff I have given some away but would like to put it up in some way, any suggestions? From what I have gathered on line drying it is the best option. Has anyone done this?thanks.

A friend of mine told me to grind it up in a food processor and freeze it in mason jars in amounts you will be able to use up once you move it to the fridge. It changes color as it defrosts and is a little less pungent, but this way I have it on hand and then use it more! She adds a little olive oil and I added a few drops of oregano oil as well.

" We are always more afraid than we wish to be, but we can always be braver than we expect."

Yep Rodney I grow aprox 50-60 garlics every year- about 6-7 I plant in the autumn- and I give away a few as well.I let them dry very carefully in the sun and when they are dry I cut of the stem( ine is hardnecked type) the other softnecked type you can braid.I store my aprox 40 garlics in a large claypot with wholes in the bottom( special pot to store onions in) my larder-( aprox 10-15 c But before I got the pot I Just let them hang in my larder all winter/spring.They keep weel- and normally I have used them up around april /may but I know I┤ll harvest mature ones in early July so that is ok.If I┤m desperate I harvest young garlic in may- june.

Roasted Garlic. Roast whole unpeeled, unseparated bulbs, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. Just cut the top off the bulb before roasting it so that you can squeeze out the soft garlic paste when they are ready.

Skordalia - Greek garlic sauce. Plain creamed potatoes mixed with garlic paste (pound as much finely sliced garlic as you like with salt using a mortar and pestle), EVOO and salt and lemon juice. You need to get the balance of garlic, salt and lemon right. So keep experimenting.

Tzatziki -mix garlic paste (recipe as above but use half a bulb) into 500gm thick yoghurt (strain it overnight in the fridge if its watery). Add the grated and drained flesh of one very large peeled and seeded cucumber, or several. Allow the flavours to mellow and to amalgate in the fridge. Keeps for about a week in the fridge.

I worry about simply putting raw garlic in olive oil because of the possibility of food poisoning. Unless you are using it straight away, of course

There are also garlic curries which call for 250 gms of garlic per dish in some cases. However, the one I know (from Tamil nadu) also demands coconut milk which is sensible because of the heat of the curry.

I'm not posting it here because I am trying to be vigilant in the face of those sly Hindu demons who are the new spiritual terrorists on the block.* My own fear is that they may slip into the forum through one's favourite Indian curries much more easily than through my mind which alas is not as vacant as the meditating Christian mind.

I so like meditating; you breathe more easily; you let go of everyday stresses; you sometimes see the Hindu demons entering into your empty mind where they like to play scrabble or other parlour games. I have more room in my mind when I meditate, and almost as much comfort as when I am in my own bed and sometimes as much peace and quiet as a country church graveyard.

Whilst yogic meditation has not proved to be fatal to my lifelong attachment to atheism it seems that the Hindu demons are attached to my curries which is why I can't post the curries here. It's their way in through the back door, the sly dogs.

yes, I see you use dried garlic, Lola. It worries me that more people don't die of food poisoning/botulism etc. in storing fresh raw garlic in olive oil. This method of flavouring oil is dangerously common.eh

I thought the best way to put garlic in oil is to thread fresh cloves/teeth of garlic onto a wooden skewer & sprinkle with seasalt or a little oil, then roast til quite golden, or dark if that is your taste. The whole skewer when cool then goes into the long tall olive oil bottle. After 2 weeks should be nicely flavoured, and of course keep in a cool dark place (but not the refrigerator). We get the flavour without the actual garlic flesh.I love garlic but it doesn't love me, nor onions, sigh. More than a tiny bit irritates greatly. :8

Great ideas all thank you all. Guess I am going to have a garlic drying/cooking weekend we need to get these recipes in the recipe data base. I was woundering how it would work to dry some of the garlic in my smoke? it hasn't got any use since I quit eating read meat. The DW won't let me dry any in the house she can't stand the smell of garlic at all {I told her she must be a vampirees} btw Eh I wish I could figure out how to really do the meditation thing I have a real difficult time slowing my thoughts down, I guess thats what needs to be done? Thanks again.

Rodney, I've been taking some White Chestnut Bach Remedy to do just that! It really helps, if I wake in the night with too many thoughts running around my head, to get back to sleep. It may help you, too. Just a thought. At least until you've trained your mind to slow down...

I'm taking my power back by remembering that a belief is only a thought that I keep thinking,

Great ideas all thank you all. btw Eh I wish I could figure out how to really do the meditation thing I have a real difficult time slowing my thoughts down, I guess thats what needs to be done? Thanks again.

Rodney,They say the main thing is to be unattached to your thoughts but I think, in particular, to be unattached to any outcome is more important because let's face it, in trying to be unattached to your thoughts you are actually attaching yourself to an outcome.... It's amazing to me how just at the pecise point that you realise you've attained a level of unattachment, the feeling flees before you and then your mind pursues the fleeing sense of detachment....so, do I have any useful advice?

One of my most brilliant yoga teachers once said, rather offhandedly, (as you do when you are wise beyond description ) that if you couldn't practice your postures everyday and if you could only practice once a week then be sure to practice at the same time each week. Apparently, in adhering to the same time and space if only for that one time a week, over time the postures would be as powerfully effective as if doing them more frequently (albeit in an ad hoc way). I applied this to my meditation practice as a technique. It works. Sometimes however, I just don't want to do the practice at the set time, but that is just part of the tussle with the nature of the mind.....

Maybe we should cross post this? I'd love to hear whether others have collected a bagful of tricks in their dealings with their mind in meditation. eh

huh ....what's about preservation of garlic in olive oil....that's a common methode in south Europe, dito India but here merely a mixup in vinegar & fresh ginger slices

I thought that garlic has aetheric oils in which are knowns as antibacterial, antiparasites etc how can we talk about as a food toxon .....tell me more about THAT please Madame eh .....merci-d'avence

Botulism is the problem, Isa. The oil is OK because it doesn't support bacteria but apparently anything like fresh garlic and fresh herbs contain water and thus bacteria. Are you sure that what you've seen/eaten is not treated in some way, perhaps heated? Often the garlic is preserved first with vinegar and then added to the oil; similarly, the mix of oil and herbs is heated to a certain temperature , cooled and then put in a sterile bottle. Alternatively, use roasted garlic - the water is removed, bugs are killed.

Garlic itself is prone to fungal/mould problems too. I've seen the black mould on improperly stored garlic. In southern Europe, I've never seen anything other than vinegar preserved/roasted garlic used in olive oil or olive oil in which the garlic is heated to very hot. Do they sell raw fresh garlic in olive oil, Isa!!?eh

PS My family would never steep fresh raw garlic in olive oil unless it was to be eaten within a few days.

huh...Botulismustoxin is only known in and with and from canned products; it's the pppfffftttt sound when opening a canned product that you've to take care ....hmmmm never heared about garlic & olive oil I really learn every day here on that holy board

Rodney,They say the main thing is to be unattached to your thoughts but I think, in particular, to be unattached to any outcome is more important because let's face it, in trying to be unattached to your thoughts you are actually attaching yourself to an outcome.... It's amazing to me how just at the pecise point that you realise you've attained a level of unattachment, the feeling flees before you and then your mind pursues the fleeing sense of detachment....so, do I have any useful advice?

One of my most brilliant yoga teachers once said, rather offhandedly, (as you do when you are wise beyond description ) that if you couldn't practice your postures everyday and if you could only practice once a week then be sure to practice at the same time each week. Apparently, in adhering to the same time and space if only for that one time a week, over time the postures would be as powerfully effective as if doing them more frequently (albeit in an ad hoc way). I applied this to my meditation practice as a technique. It works. Sometimes however, I just don't want to do the practice at the set time, but that is just part of the tussle with the nature of the mind.....

Maybe we should cross post this? I'd love to hear whether others have collected a bagful of tricks in their dealings with their mind in meditation. eh

I have started a new thread entitled "Quieting the mind", so that those who are interested can continue this conversation.

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.~Mary Jean Irion